The Elbe–Vltava Waterway denotes the navigable sections of the Elbe and the Vltava on the territory of Czechia, which also include the Baťa Canal. According to the Ředitelství vodních cest ČR (RVC), 514 kilometres of these three waterways are currently navigable for freight and recreational navigation [1].
Development and tasks of the RVC
The RVC states as its task a partial extension of the waterways by 42 kilometres, an improvement of their parameters and facilities, and the construction of public port infrastructure so that they can be used for navigation to a greater extent [1]. The RVC's fields of activity include improving and extending navigability of the Elbe, improving the parameters of the Vltava, extending and modernising the Baťa Canal, building ports and landing stages for recreational navigation, developing freight ports, information technology, service centres for vessels and moorings for service vessels [2].
Kilometre marking of the Elbe waterway
According to the RVC, five different kilometre markings were formerly used on the Elbe waterway: the oldest, the navigation, the uniform river, the administrative and the digital one, which according to the RVC caused confusion when determining positions on the waterway [2]. Since 1 January 2009 a single "European" kilometre marking has applied, with its zero point at the mouth of the Elbe in the North Sea [2]. On the state border with Germany, kilometre 730 was set as the handover point by the Ministry of Transport and Povodí Labe [2]. In the section from the state border to Kunětice, 257 kilometre markers, 256 half-kilometre markers and 1,947 hectometre markers were installed [2]. The construction project called "Kilometráž a značení labské vodní cesty" in the section Kunětice to the German border (river kilometre 730, the middle Elbe area) was carried out by the company LABSKÁ, strojní a stavební společnost s.r.o. of Pardubice, the design was prepared by Pöyry Environment a.s. of Brno, and the administrator and operator is Povodí Labe, státní podnik, of Hradec Králové [2]. Construction began on 1 November 2008 and was completed on 31 December 2010 [2]. The investment plan was prepared in September 2006 and approved by the Ministry of Transport in October 2006 [2]. The project was co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Operational Programme Transport in the amount of CZK 41.339 million and by the State Fund for Transport Infrastructure in the amount of CZK 7.295 million [2].
Vltava waterway between České Budějovice and Hluboká nad Vltavou
A set of structures on the Vltava between České Budějovice and Hluboká nad Vltavou is also part of the development of the Elbe–Vltava Waterway [3]. Dredging of the riverbed over a length of 4 kilometres below the České Vrbné weir provided a navigable depth of 1.6 metres in the impoundment of the Hluboká nad Vltavou weir, completed in 1935, with a minimum fairway width of 20 metres; construction began in September 2008 and was completed in 2009 [3]. In the area of the former Lannova loděnice shipyard below the Dlouhý most bridge, a terminal landing stage with a total length of 60 metres was built for short-term mooring of passenger boats and small vessels, with work starting in August 2009 and ending in March 2010 [3]. At the České Vrbné weir, put into operation in 1968, the hydrostatic sectors were replaced by supported flap gates 22.5 metres wide with a retained height of 3 metres; construction lasted from September 2008 to 2009 [3]. The České Vrbné lock, with a drop of 7 metres, enables vessels to pass between the upper and lower impoundment and was built from May 2009 to June 2011 [3]. At the same time, on the site of the original river channel that disappeared when the weir was built in 1968, the České Vrbné protective harbour was built for 23 small vessels and at least two passenger boats, with a triangular basin and a lift bridge over the entrance, likewise completed in June 2011 after starting in November 2009 [3].
Operator and administration
The development of the waterway is carried out by the Ředitelství vodních cest ČR, and the administrator and operator of the completed kilometre marking structure on the Elbe is Povodí Labe, státní podnik [1][2].